Abstract
Research suggests that a sub-set of children with autism experience notable difficulties and delays in motor skills development, and that a large percentage of children with autism experience deficits in motor resonance. These motor-related deficiencies, which evidence suggests are present from a very early age, are likely to negatively affect social-communicative and language development in this population. Here, we review evidence for delayed, impaired, and atypical motor development in infants and children with autism. We then carefully review and examine the current language and communication-based intervention research that is relevant to motor and motor resonance (i.e., neural “mirroring” mechanisms activated when we observe the actions of others) deficits in children with autism. Finally, we describe research needs and future directions and developments for early interventions aimed at addressing the speech/language and social-communication development difficulties in autism from a motor-related perspective.
Highlights
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that is diagnosed based upon behavioral criteria for impairments in social skills, communication and language skills, and restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
DIRECTIONS We have described several interventions aimed at increasing social-communication and language skills in young children with autism that have theoretical and/or practical roots in relationships of these skills to motor development
In this article, we have reviewed the research on aspects of early motor development that are believed to be relevant to speech/language and social communication in infants and children with autism
Summary
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that is diagnosed based upon behavioral criteria for impairments in social skills, communication and language skills, and restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Autism is currently considered to be a “spectrum” disorder, with three Pervasive Developmental Disorders being termed Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs): Autistic Disorder, Aspergers Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) Individuals with these three different ASDs differ somewhat in regards to the nature and/or severity of their early language and intellectual difficulties. The only motor abnormalities currently included in the diagnostic criteria for ASDs are stereotypical repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; see Lord and Jones, 2012). These repetitive behaviors include motor stereotypies, such as hand and finger mannerisms, body rocking, and arm flapping (Lord et al, 1994; Loftin et al, 2008). A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to account for the motor functioning differences observed in individuals with ASDs, including abnormalities in the cerebellum (Fatemi et al, 2012), impairments in frontal-striatal connections (Fournier et al, 2010), difficulties in self-other mapping (Williams et al, 2001), impaired sensory input (Gowen and Hamilton, 2013), and impaired multisensory integration (Gowen and Hamilton, 2013)
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